Chapter 13 : Sakaki vs the Guidance Counsellor from Hell, part 4
(Where Sakaki unleashes her terrifying wrath ... )
For a welcome change, Kaorin was feeling rather happy and light-headed. A silly smile was curling the corners of her mouth, and she almost skipped as she escorted Sakaki towards the office of Muraki-sensei, the friendly inspector of the Ministry of Education.
Finally, she was able to do something useful for the sake of her beloved! Maybe she had been given a chance to redeem her unseemly and ridiculous behavior yesterday when Sakaki-san had been stung by a wasp.
What luck! Just after class, she had come across Muraki-sensei again; and he had actually asked her to find Sakaki and bring her to his office for an interview! Without doubts, she would be selected as a candidate!
Kaorin had never heard about an award for the Best High School girl of the Nation before; but now she was convinced that no one deserved the title more than Sakaki-san.
Of course, there was little genius girl Chiyo-chan, who was slightly better in the field of academics ... but according to Mr Muraki, the ideal candidate had to be smart, polite, beautiful and athletic. And only Sakaki-san possessed all of those qualities! She excelled both in academics and sports, and lost to no one in terms of looks; yes, she was without doubts the most beautiful and talented High School girl of the Nation!
Kaorin blushed, remembering how, just a couple of minutes ago, Sakaki had quickly changed back into her school uniform, right in front of her. Of course, she had averted her eyes when the tall girl had removed her shirt and bloomers, but still, she had ... involuntarily taken a small glimpse.
As the smitten girl was leading her idol through the corridors, enchanting visions were dancing inside her mind ... fleeting images of thin, elegant, bare limbs; of pearly white skin partially hidden behind velvet raven tresses ... Of course, she had seen Sakaki-san in a swimsuit many times before, but this situation was ... different; something like this was just so ... enticing!
Kaorin took a few deep breaths, and took a quick glance from the corner of her eyes. Fortunately, Sakaki-san was still looking straight ahead, without noticing her companion's flushed cheeks.
Strangely, she seemed even more aloof and quiet than usual. When Kaorin had told her that a teacher wished to speak to her, she had just voiced a soft "Aa", and nothing more since then. Kaorin hoped that the nice surprise Mr Muraki was about to give her would cheer her up.
It was lucky that Sakaki-san had stayed behind to help Chihiro tidy up the P.E. storeroom; otherwise Kaorin would have arrived too late. As she had entered the gym, her good friend Chihiro had immediately slipped away, leaving her alone with Sakaki-san.
And did the short-haired girl really wink at her before departing? ... No, it must have been a trick of the light, thought Kaorin, as another heat wave spread across her whole body and face.
She was so flustered that she almost missed the door to Mr Muraki's "office".
"Umm, h ... here it is, Sakaki-san!"
"Oh. Isn't this an old storage room? Why are we here?"
" Well, um, Muraki-sensei is actually an inspector for the Ministry of Education, so ... I suppose he was given this room as a temporary office. Although it's, umm, strange ... Well anyway, he wishes to talk to you, Sakaki-san."
Oh ... do you know what for?"
" Well, you might be surprised, hehe ... "
The two girls entered a large, dusty, windowless room, lit by humming halogen tubes, which projected an eerie and depressing light upon the floor. The room was almost empty, with a simple desk and two chairs standing in the middle. Muraki was leaning casually against his desk, observing the two girls with his small, sharp eyes.
The wiry man crossed the room towards the girls, who bowed. He smiled tightly and passed them, stopping in front of the entrance. After quickly checking the empty hall, he closed the door, turning back towards Kaorin and Sakaki.
"So, here you are, Sakaki ... -san, right?"
"Yes, Sensei," replied the tall girl, bowing again.
"Do you know why you are here?"
" Umm, no, I don't ... I'm sorry, Sensei."
"All right, if you want to play it this way ... "
The guidance counselor walked back to his desk in quick strides, took off his blazer, and laid it over one of the chairs.
"No point in putting this off any further with idle chit-chat, right?"
He then removed his tie and put it over his vest.
" ... Oh, by the way, you'll be interested to know that the Principal has given me carte blanche in the matter."
He smirked, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.
"What is he talking about?" whispered Sakaki to her smaller friend.
"I ... I don't know, Sakaki-san," replied Kaorin, bewildered by Mr Muraki's puzzling actions and scary expression.
"I don't know what you've been trying to pull, but the little mind-tricks you used on your classmates won't work on me. I wonder how you could even begin to imagine scaring someone like me; I'm a professional re-educator, after all."
"Anyway, Ojô-san, I think you need a little lesson in reality. First, you should learn that you can't play in a Man's world with impunity."
As the "professional re-educator" was attempting to intimidate and stare down the puzzled girl, he observed her face intently, waiting for a reaction.
"What's with that deadpan face? Is she playing dumb, or something? Well, in any case, she doesn't look dangerous to me. With her height and stern look, maybe she could trick some ordinary moron into believing she's strong; but to me, who is used to sensing aggressiveness in people, I can tell she's harmless."
"Well, Ojô-san, are you going to stand there like that, or are you going to show me what you've got?"
Sakaki had absolutely no idea what the scary man in front of her was trying to say. However, it dawned upon her that she was in trouble ... he was obviously scolding her, and she was probably about to be punished. Surely, her past misdemeanors had caught up to her, and had been exposed to the teachers!
But then, why wasn't she called to the Principal's office? She didn't recognise this man at all; he was neither a teacher, nor a supervisor from the school.
Since he was supposed to be from the Ministry of Education, and had called himself a re-educator, maybe ... maybe she was about to be sent to a reformatory institution? Maybe her parents had heard about her bad and violent actions and now wanted to send her away?
And what about Kaori, who had brought her to this man? Did she consider her as a dangerous person, who needed to be expelled? If sweet, gentle Kaori saw her like that, then ... then it was true, she really deserved what was happening to her!
Sakaki suddenly felt as if her lungs and stomach were painfully crushed from within. Hot shivers overwhelmed her body. It seemed to her as if the whole world was collapsing around her; she had never been hit by her parents, and couldn't even remember having been punished for anything bad during her childhood. And now, the unthinkable was happening!
"Hmm, still no reaction ... " thought Muraki, considering the immobile girl. "It's better if I don't make the first move; it would put a stain on my reputation if I mess up a girl too much. Ok, I'll try a little bluff next; hopefully she'll break down ... or it'll rile her up enough to make her attack me recklessly ... then I can take her down easily. In any case, it'll be fun to see the reaction of the other bitch when I break her idol right in front of her, hehehe ... "
"Anyway," he drawled, "no matter what you try, Ojô-san, the outcome will be the same. For you AND your little girlfriend here ... because you're both in it together. After all, I know everything about your forbidden ... affair."
Sakaki had trouble concentrating on the re-educator's speech. She was starting to feel very dizzy; the man was still talking, but she couldn't put any meaning to his words ... was he accusing her of having done something improper to Kaorin?
She noticed the horrified expression on her ex-classmate's face. In the dreary light of the fluorescent tubes, the poor girl looked completely ashen; it almost seemed as if her hair had turned white. Was she disgusted with her? Or was she afraid of being punished too, because of her?
The tall man smirked and took a step towards his prey. Suddenly, Sakaki felt a strange and unpleasant shiver creeping up her spine towards the back of her head. She remembered this sensation from each time she had been confronted with physical violence. What was happening? Was this person about to hit her? Did she actually deserve such a punishment?
With dread, she suddenly recalled Miss Wang telling her something disturbing; something about yang energy traveling up the spine just before a person goes into a survival state of mind, and tries to destroy everything perceived as a threat ... Was she about to lose control again, and react violently, out of proportion? And what about those horrible things described in the book Ayumu-chan had given her?
Sakaki tried to apply her sensei's Chi-kung techniques to quench her fear, breathing in deeply and picturing the life force filling her entire body, soothing away harmful tension. However, her efforts proved futile, as she was suddenly assailed with doubts about Miss Wang and her teachings.
The tall girl lowered her head, hugging herself, and whispered hoarsely:
"Please, don't come near me. It's ... it's too dangerous ... "
Muraki's smirk widened.
"Well, what do you know, the bluff is working! She really has done the dirty deed with that other bitch, just as I thought. Hah! And now she's breaking down in fear! Pathetic! And the look on her little girlfriend's face is priceless!"
"P ... please stay away ... I mean ... the truth is, I'm the one who's dangerous ! I ... I don't want to hurt you. Please."
The re-educator's smile vanished.
"What are you trying to pull, bitch?" he growled.
Suddenly the door was thrust open and an angry voice screamed:
"MURAKI MAKOTO!"
The counselor turned towards the entrance and gawked, as a muscular, spiky-haired blond boy burst into the room, followed by five female students. One of these girls was really small, looking like an elementary school kid, despite the High School uniform she was wearing.
"Wh ... what the Hell are YOU doing here, you freak?" shouted Muraki, immediately recognizing his former enemy, Yamamoto Brad.
The half-American boy gave him a cocky grin. "Heheheh ... this is what they call °revenge° ... prepare yourself, Muraki!"
"Hey, look!" exclaimed Tomo, "the mysterious message told the truth after all! The lair of the evil re-educator was right here as predicted! And he's obviously up to no good!"
The five girls' eyes went from Sakaki's huddled, trembling form, to the frozen Kaorin, who looked on the verge of fainting.
" What the ... don't tell me ... this story is true, after all?" whispered Yomi.
"Damn it!" yelled an infuriated Muraki. "Is that some sort of machination against me? Are all of you crazy bitches in this together? This is not a game! Don't you realise I'm here on behalf of the bloody Ministry of Education?"
Yamamoto Brad turned towards his "big sister" and gave her the V-sign.
"Heh, don't worry, Aneki, you don't need to waste your time fighting the likes of him. I've already been expelled from this school, and don't have anything to loose! So I'll take care of this for you. Yeah, that's the kind of °cool guy° I am ... "
He struck a "manly" pose, closing his eyes for a second; then faced his enemy again.
" °Okaay°, let's do this ... OOF!"
As the cocky boy had been busy showing off, Muraki had jumped at the opportunity to take him by surprise; he rushed him, violently driving a knee in his gut. Then, seizing him by the back of his head, he struck him again several times with the same knee, like the experienced kickboxer he was.
Yamamoto tried to absorb the hits by crossing his arms in front of his body; but Muraki released him, and switched to a barrage of elbows and fists. The younger boy tried frantically to block the strikes with crossed forearms, but he was overwhelmed as the re-educator rained down lightning-fast blows upon him.
The girls gaped, frozen solid by the sudden explosion of violence. Sakaki closed her eyes, her breathing becoming more and more ragged.
Screaming in rage, Yamamoto suddenly rushed forward, relinquishing his defense and taking a few more hits in the process. He body-slammed his opponent, driving him back, then executed a spectacular spinning kick that Muraki dodged barely with a backwards jump.
Pressing his advantage, the spiky-haired boy resumed his charge, and shot his fist towards his hated enemy's face. Unfortunately, he was stopped right in his tracks by a perfectly executed cross-counter, simultaneously deflecting his attack to the side and smashing him in the jaw.
Yamamoto Brad staggered backwards with a painful grunt and lost his footing, falling down on his bottom.
He was looking worse for the wear, having taken quite a few hits on the face and body; he was bleeding from the nose, had a split lip and several bruises around his eyes and jaw.
Despite all this, he grinned insanely and jumped back to his feet.
"Heh, I see you've improved that deadly cross-counter of yours, Muraki ... also, I see that you're still a sneaky bastard!"
" ... And I see that you're still a freak of nature," growled the counselor. "How many punches in your demented face do you need to stay down?"
"Hehehe ... your punches have no °Spirit°! But as for me, I only need one hit to bring YOU down! See, after our little encounter last year, I trained and trained, shedding sweat, blood and tears to develop a special attack ... a special attack designed just with you in mind! So, let's see if you can counter THIS! Haaaaaaaaah!"
Abruptly, Yamamoto's eyes widened and all of his muscles bulged, making him look like a character in a violent shônen manga powering up for a "chi attack".
"BAKUYAKU TÔKI HIZUME-KEN!"
As Muraki watched his foe rushing him head-on with his arm cocked back for a powerful punch, he smirked and prepared to deliver his cross-counter; however at the last moment, he jumped out of the way in alarm.
"What the Hell was that? There ... there seemed to be some sort of vortex around his arm! Is that ... a chi attack? This sort of thing really exists? "
The guidance counselor glanced behind him and gaped, noticing that his desk and chairs had been toppled over, although Yamamoto was standing a couple of meters away, arm extended.
"Oh my God! Did you see that?" shouted Tomo. "He just launched a kamehameha! He's really a Super Saiya-Jin fighter! ... And Sakaki managed to defeat that guy last time? Whoa!"
"Heh, that's right," drawled the spiky-haired boy, facing his opponent again. "I've used that attack many times against strong opponents, and only Aneki was ever able to counter it. So it will be more than enough to crush a coward like you! ORRRRAAAAAA!"
Once again, Muraki managed to dodge the powerful attack; however he felt a strong air wave blowing back his hair, as the fist missed him by a few centimeters.
"No matter how much you try to run away, you're still going down in the end, Muraki!"
The two combatants circled each other for a few moments ... suddenly, just as his opponent was charging again with a loud war-cry, the re-educator jumped back towards the group of girls who were still standing near the entrance. They scattered, except Chiyo and Osaka, too slow to react.
"Chiyo-chan! Osaka! Move!" shouted Kagura.
Just as the crazy boy was about to strike, Muraki grabbed Chiyo by the back of her uniform, and easily lifting the small body, thrust her forward in the way of the attack.
"Kyaaaaa!" screamed the little girl in fear, as Yamamoto's fist barreled at an insane speed towards her face.
At the high-pitched cry, Sakaki snapped out of her trance, and reached desperately towards her small friend. She knew that she was too far away to move and save her in time.
"CHIYO-CHAN!"
Taken by surprise, Yamamoto tried to interrupt his motion, but he had already committed himself completely into his attack; there was no way he'd be able to prevent his fist from striking the poor little girl who had suddenly appeared in front of him.
At the very last moment, his arm somehow deviated to the side, barely missing the delicate face. Yet, Chiyo's head was blown back by the strong air wave spiraling around the fist. The ribbons which secured her pigtails snapped, and her hair fluttered around her face.
"Wh ... what the Hell happened?" thought Yamamoto, bewildered.
He suddenly sensed movement from the corner of his eye. The strange, thin girl who had greeted him earlier was pushing with both hands on his left fist, which had been drawn back as the other was thrust forward. As a result, with a just a small amount of force, she had managed to pivot him towards her, making him miss his target.
Unfortunately, Yamamoto was carried along with his momentum, and the inner part of his forearm smacked her on the side of the head. She collapsed to the ground without a sound.
"°Shit!°" exclaimed the blond boy, reaching for the fallen girl. He noticed too late Muraki's foot shooting towards him ... it hit him violently in the side, cutting off his breath, and propelling him backwards.
As the re-educator was tearing into the hapless teenager with a flurry of blows, Chiyo who had been unceremoniously dropped to the ground, rushed towards the still form of her friend.
"Oh, my God! O ... Osaka-san! Hang in there! Please!"
The frail girl's eyes fluttered open; she sat up slowly, holding her head in her hands, moaning softly.
"Ooooh ... I lost consciousness for a moment here ... that's the second time today. The world of fighting sure is merciless! Ah! Chiyo-chan ! I must save Chiyo-chan!"
"I'm here, Osaka-san! Please don't move!"
"Chiyo-chan? Eh? Did he knock off your pigtails?" asked Osaka weakly, trying to focus on the small girl kneeling in front of her. " ... OH MY GOD, CHIYO-CHAN! You're bleeding!"
"Eh?" Chiyo touched her brow where her friend was pointing. There was actually a small cut on the side of her eyebrow, and a thin red trickle of blood was running down her cheek. As she saw the crimson liquid on her fingers, she froze.
"Ah ... Ah! B ... blood!"
Osaka immediately reached forward, and engulfed her friend in a hug, pressing the small body against her chest. She quickly took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and started carefully cleaning Chiyo's face, while whispering reassuring words into her ear.
Meanwhile, Yamamoto had finally collapsed under his opponent's relentless assault, falling down hard on the ground. The counselor didn't let him the chance to recover though, kicking him mercilessly in the sides a few times, sending him into in a world of pain.
" ... And stay down, you stupid retard!"
As Muraki was about to kick his fallen opponent in the head for good measure, he suddenly felt a small fist hit him in the side of his face, staggering him backwards.
"Stop it you bastard! You'll kill him!" shouted Kagura, arm still extended from the punch.
"Shit! You'll regret hitting me, you bitch!" growled the tall man, holding his bruised jaw.
"Oh yeah? I ... I'll take you on!"
"Stop it, Kagura! Calm down," urged Yomi, putting a hand on her infuriated friend's shoulder. She glared at the re-educator. "Why did you do all of this? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
"Heh, what are you talking about? This is called self-defense!"
"Self-defense? You were the one who actually initiated the fight! And you call yourself a re-educator? You won't get away with this! We'll inform the teachers!"
"Ooh? Please do so. Did I mention that I was called here by your Vice-principal? You girls are the ones who are in trouble!"
"What? We're all witnesses here! We just saw you beat down someone brutally! And you caused two innocent bystanders to get hurt! You even used a little girl as your shield! You coward!"
"Hehehe ... you're quite naïve, Ojô-chan. Let me tell you the official version of what took place here:
"Yamamoto Brad is a well-known juvenile delinquent, who has been kicked out of several schools -- including this one -- for various acts of violence. Earlier today, he was informed by his accomplices of my presence here. He had been looking for me to exact 'revenge', because I had been the one to enforce one of his previous expulsions.
"Despite having been expressly banned from appearing on school grounds again, he sneaked in with the help of said accomplices, and assaulted me right in my office. I tried to reason with him, asking him to back down for the sake of his former classmates, who might get hurt if a fight took place in this confined place ... but despite my best efforts, he went berserk and attacked me recklessly, injuring two bystanders in the process. Which let me unfortunately no other choice than to use force ...
"So, what do you think? Quite a good story, right?"
"Why you! Do you really think you can ... "
"Oh, right, I forgot! You girls were the ones to bring him into my office, right? This obviously makes you his accomplices; especially the one over there, whom he called 'big sister'. Moreover, you ladies even tried to gang up on me and attack me! My, my, what a group of violent girls! How unseemly ... and I thought this was such a model school, too! I wonder what the Principal will say to that ... You're obviously in very deep trouble, ladies ... "
"Wh ... how ... you ... " sputtered Yomi, appalled.
"Hmm, what are we going to do with you? Such unruly behavior can't be excused easily ... " the guidance counselor smirked.
"If ... if you want to expel someone, expel me ... " growled Kagura. "But leave Sakaki and the others alone, or, or ... I'll hurt you!" The athletic girl was putting up a brave front, glaring daggers at the tall man; but her heart was beating wildly and sweat trickled down her face.
"Hey, I'm with you Kagura ... " said Tomo, whose eyes were somewhat feverish. She slowly picked up one of the upturned chairs. "Listen, how about we REALLY gang up on him, and beat him up until he's in no state to tell anything to the Principal? ... You're with us, Sakaki?"
"Unforgivable ..."
All heads turned towards the tall girl. She was somewhat hunched over herself, head lowered, shoulders heaving with each painful breath. Her knuckles were white from gripping the fabric of her skirt.
" ... Unforgivable ... unforgivable ... unforgivable ... " she was whispering over and over in a low, hoarse voice.
"Sakaki-chan!" suddenly spoke Osaka in a louder tone than her usual gentle one. "Please, punish this evil person! He hurt Chiyo-chan! Look! He made Chiyo-chan bleed! She's really bleeding! Please punish him!"
Still trembling, the tall girl took a few slow steps towards the re-educator, as her friends watched intently.
"Sakaki!"
"Sakaki-chan!"
"A ... Aneki! Hnnghh ... O ... oww ... "
"S ... Sakaki-san!"
Poor, emotive Kaorin had been completely horror-struck from the very beginning; she was shaking like a leaf, clutching her hands against her chest, struggling to stay upright. Not only had the nice man she had trusted changed into an evil demon, but she herself had been the one to deliver her beloved right into his clutches!
"Shit, I'm starting to have enough of you crazy broads!" growled Muraki "Ok, no more Mr Nice Guy now; I'm gonna ... what the ... ?"
Sakaki took another step towards the counselor, raising her head slowly. He instantly broke in a cold sweat, and his breath caught in his throat.
"Wh ... what the Hell is this? That ... that woman! She ... she SERIOUSLY WANTS TO KILL ME!"
Through his successful "career," Muraki had fought a lot of angry opponents, some of them really intent on hurting him. One could say that making his opponents angry was his specialty; they usually attacked sloppily, allowing him to use his perfect counters and take them down without breaking a sweat.
He was used to looking into furious, screaming faces, with red-flushed skin and dilated pupils. Yet the girl in front of him was deathly pale, and he could barely distinguish the shrunken pupils in the center of her wide, glazed-over eyes. Being on the receiving end of a truly murderous glare was not something he was used to. The wiry man froze up as his opponent continued approaching him, and raised her hand in the air.
" Wh ... why is she coming head-on like that, with her arm raised? Is that a feint? Is ... is she hiding a knife in her other hand? Shiiiit! Why ... why can't I move? I've got to move! "
"Oh my God, now you've done it! You've made her angry! Run for your life, idiot!" shouted Yomi.
As for Sakaki herself, she was feeling horribly nauseous, and was desperately trying to resist a terrible urge to slap with all her might the person in front of her, the person who had hurt her friends.
"Unforgivable ... unforgivable! Chiyo-chan! Ayumu-chan! Why, Why? ... Aah ... what is happening to me? I just want to slap him! I don't care anymore what happens ... I don't care! I just ... I just need to slap this person, right now! "
With feline grace, Sakaki suddenly dashed forward, and brought down her hand upon her opponent.
"UNFORGIVABLE!"
"GYAAAHH!"
The re-educator raised his left arm reflexively to block the attack, and tensed up for impact. The palm hit him right in the middle of the forearm. It wasn't a particularly strong or fast swing; but the tall girl seemed to shudder just as it connected, and Muraki felt a shock wave sweeping through his whole body, down to the soles of his feet. His knees buckled and he staggered backwards, stomach churning, ears ringing. A dull, throbbing pain started to spread inside his arm.
"Wh ... what was that? My arm! Hnghh ... It's ... it's like the muscles are tetanizing! How? ... HOLY SHIT! THE STUFF IN THE BOOK IS FRIGGING REAL!"
Sakaki retracted her hand, as a jolt of pain went through her palm, where the hornet had stung her the day before. In desperation, she raised her left hand and resumed her advance towards her opponent.
"Aah ... I feel so bad! I hurt all over ... Please ... Please let me slap you once!"
Everybody held their breath as Sakaki prepared to launch a second assault.
"Shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Move, Muraki, move! If that attack connects with my head, I'M FRIGGING DEAD! I've got to take her down first! It's me or her! This ... this is self-preservation!"
In order to strengthen his will and bring back his body under control, the terrified re-educator let out a loud scream.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Driven by a primal urge she didn't understand, Sakaki felt her lungs painfully fill up with air, and responded with her own scream, completely drowning out her opponent's. She poured into it all of her desperation, fear, frustrations, and sadness which had accumulated inside her heart over the weeks.
"IIIIIIIYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
To the occupants of the room it sounded like a deafening roar of rage, reverberating throughout the whole floor, and forcing them to cover their ears.
Left arm raised, Sakaki shot forward towards her opponent, who in turn launched his cross-counter with his good arm.
"That's it! Perfect timing! Take this, bitch!" thought Muraki triumphantly as he stepped right inside the tall girl's swing, head tucked protectively behind his shoulder, driving his fist towards her unprotected face.
"Sakaki!" shouted Kagura in alarm.
"Aneki, don't!"
A sharp crack echoed through the room, and the limp body of the guidance counselor collapsed to the floor in a shapeless heap.
Silence filled the room; nobody dared to move for a minute. Sakaki lowered her arm slowly, staring vacantly at the body lying at her feet.
" Wh ... what happened?" whispered Kagura. "I was sure Sakaki got hit, but ... but he was the one to go down instead."
"I saw it," said Yamamoto, getting painfully to his feet. There were a lot of bruises on his face, and he was clutching his abdomen with one hand. "She ... she actually managed to counter a cross-counter! I didn't know such a thing was even possible."
"Eh?"
"That bastard got inside her guard, and aimed for her face; but she deflected his fist to the side with just a small bump of her shoulder. And at the same time, her arm hit him behind the neck like a whip! Such a simple move ... yet to pull it off in that kind of situation it would require super-human reflexes and flexibility! I've never seen something like that; that's totally °high-level°! Just as expected from Aneki."
"Is ... is he dead?" asked Yomi, approaching the body cautiously.
"Yeah, likely," said the blond boy flippantly. "Taking a surprise hit to the neck like that is especially deadly. With the kind of strength Aneki used, she must have made him a paraplegic, to the very least."
"Oh my God!"
"Hmm, let's see ... " said Tomo, poking him a few times with her foot. "Hey, his leg twitched! He's still alive, and he doesn't seem to be paralyzed either!"
"Oh well, Aneki chose to be merciful, after all. She spared him, because she knows I still have a score to settle with him! Isn't that right, Aneki? That's totally °cool° of you!"
Sakaki, still staring blankly into space, turned around, and marched out of the room without a word.
"Sakaki!"
"Let her be, Kagura," said Yomi, resting a hand on her classmate's shoulder. "I think it's better to let her cool down for now."
"R ... right."
"Oh no!" suddenly exclaimed Osaka, who was still holding Chiyo close to her. "Look! Kaorin-chan has fainted! Quick! We must bring her to the nurse!"
Muraki Makoto, looking somewhat frazzled and haggard, was slowly heading towards the car park. His left arm was hanging limply at his side, and he didn't seem very steady on his legs.
He had regained consciousness a few minutes earlier inside his empty office, where he had been left lying. Since then, he was plagued with a terrible headache, and was feeling sharp jolts of pain inside his arm, shooting randomly through his shoulder, elbow and fingers.
As he had reached his car, he started fumbling for his car keys inside his pockets with his good hand.
"Ara, ara, Muraki-sensei ... " spoke a sardonic voice from behind him. "Leaving us so soon?"
Startled, the guidance counselor whirled around, and found himself facing three teachers, who were watching him with various expressions. Tanizaki-sensei was grinning, looking rather triumphant; Kurosawa-sensei was glaring daggers at him; as for Kimura-sensei, his gaping face was unreadable, eyes hidden behind glowing round glasses.
"Well, I don't blame you," continued Yukari. "I mean, it has been a tiring day for you, after all ... And don't worry, there's no need to make a report to the Vice-principal; while you were ... resting, Kimura-sensei already notified him of today's events."
"Ahem. Actually, I have taken the liberty of informing Gotô-sensei of your wish to take a health leave of absence from this establishment, before you return to the Ministry of Education," said the lanky man, adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah, you obviously need one; and you'd BETTER take it," growled Minamo.
Muraki nodded numbly, glancing nervously from one teacher to another.
"Ah, Sensei, here you are!" spoke a soft voice from behind the small group.
"Eh? Osaka? What are you doing here?" asked Yukari. "I thought you were in the infirmary, with the others."
"Well, Kaorin has already left home, and Chiyo-chan's parents came to pick her up a few minutes ago. As for Buladdo-kun, he is still being bandaged by the nurse ... "
"How about you, Osaka? Are you alright?" asked Minamo, concerned.
"Oh, I'm fine. Actually, I was about to leave and drop Sakaki-chan's schoolbag at her home; she forgot it inside Muraki-sensei's office. Oh, but before, I need to tell something to Mr Counsellor ... something of utmost importance, concerning his health. What was it again? Wait ... "
The frail girl rummaged through the bag she was holding, and pulled out a black book with a skull on its cover. Muraki's eyes widened.
"Hmm, let's see ... what page was it again?" asked herself Osaka, leafing through the tome. "Ah! Here it is! Pressure points on the neck ... Anôoo ... etôoo ... how do you translate °Stomatovisceral°, Yukari-sensei?"
The re-educator twitched.
"Give me that," ordered Yukari, snatching the book from her student's hands. "Okay ... it says:
' ... Hitting the Conception Vessel N°20 point is already quite deadly in itself. However, you can increase the damage tenfold by hitting beforehand the Pericardium N°6 point, located on the Median Nerve in the forearm. Attacking both these points in a sequence will cause a fatal Stomatovisceral Reflex of the heart, due to the convergence of the Peripheral Median Nerve with the internal Sympathetic Nervous System on the T1 Intercostal level of the spinal cord.
'In layman's terms, it basically means you'll make his heart BURST messily! That'll teach the bastard to mess with you and your loved ones! ... And if you feel REALLY pissed, you can use a Vibrating Palm strike, which will delay the effects of the technique by one hour! That will give him the opportunity to reflect on his actions before he dies a gruesome death!
'Note: The only way to reverse the effects is to bring him to a hospital before the delay expires and inject him with a powerful Antiarithmic drug.' ... uhh, Osaka, what does all that gibberish mean, anyway?"
"Well, it means Muraki-sensei 's heart is in danger of exploding at any moment! Um, what time is it now?" Osaka glanced at her watch. "Oh my! ... Already! But that means there is only ... hmm ... that is ... what time did the fight actually occur, exactly? Anôoo ... etôoo ... etôoo ... AAH!"
"Wh ... what?" choked out the hapless re-educator.
"°Oh my God!°" cried out the young girl in English. "You only have thirteen minutes left! Quick! We must hurry!"
"Hm , I think calling an ambulance to fetch you and bring you to the hospital will take too much time," said Yukari grimly. " ... Ok, you know what? Since I'm such a nice gal, I'll drive you there directly! It'll take us only five minutes. All right, Muraki. Give me your car keys; you're not in shape to drive anyway."
"I ... I ... "
A slightly maniacal glint lit up inside the English teacher's eyes.
"Give. Me. Your. Car. Keys."
The terrified man quickly deposited the keys in her outstretched palm.
"Hmm, that's a nice little sports-car you have there," purred Yukari, sitting down behind the wheel. "A V6 engine? Very nice ... "
As the black car sped away with a loud screech of tires, Minamo shook her head.
"Does she even know what 'V6' means, anyway?"
She sighed, and turned towards the bespectacled man next to her. "Say, Kimura-sensei?"
"Hai, Nyamo-sensei?"
"Don't call me that. And please don't make any more absurd plans like this in the future! We were lucky it didn't result in a complete disaster ... By the way, what did the Vice-principal say when you told him about, um ... the failure of his special re-educator?"
"Well, as a matter of fact ... he said he would try to look for a stronger one next time."
"N ... next time?" a small bead of sweat trickled down Minamo's brow.
"AAH!"
"What is it, Osaka?"
"Actually, the Conception Vessel N°20 point is located on the torso, not the back of the neck. I must have made a mistake because those two pages were stuck together. Hmm, looks like there was no need to worry about Muraki-sensei's heart, after all!"
"After a car ride with Yukari, I'd worry about my heart, all right ... "